Probing the QGP Phase Boundary with Thermal Properties of φ Mesons
Abstract
A novel attempt has been made to probe the QCD phase boundary by using the experimental data for transverse momenta of φ mesons produced in nuclear collisions at AGS, SPS and RHIC energies. The data are confronted with simple thermodynamic expectations and lattice QCD results. The experimental data indicate a first-order phase transition, with a mixed phase stretching the energy density between 1 and 3.2 GeV/fm3 corresponding to SPS energies.
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